The Life of a Clam Digger (1972, Long Island)

[wiley van pelt]

I buld a garvey 30 years back. I use it to rack and comb eels back then. the boat had a slight vee, copy off a mako bottom Took the wife out with me for a test run, runnig though snake channell off Tobay. Half way look back to see NO WIFE Turn around found her on the flats, with a dislocated elbow. Took me 20 years to get her back on the boat, and only a sail boat. I pull the garvey out and got a pair of 3x3x4ft angles, bolted them on, the boat turn on a dime happy days

man, if i just knew it was that easy to keep my wife off the boat i would have done that long age.

[Jim Ledger]

Bottles! You guys must have awesome bottle collections. I have a couple ( I only raked on the side as a kid).. would love to see pics!

Kevin

Most are in a box somewhere in the attic...I think. This one came from the close to shore off Blue Point. Mickey used to tell me that the hotels had docks, which is certainly true, as there are plenty of pictures, and people threw a lot of bottles in the water.

This bottle is labelled Long Island Bottling Company, Patchogue, Long Island. It might have held mineral water. I believe that the neck was added after the bottle was made. Some were blown into a two part mold and you can see the parting line, but this one has no such line, but the neck does appear to have been added.

There are usually some scratches on bottles that were tonged up, which is the case here. The glass is usually somewhat frosted from the time spent in the sand. This one has part of its stopper still inside.

Bottling seems to have been a very localized activity a hundred years ago. You can imagine that the bottles were expensive and recycling must have been encouraged. The difficulty of shipping such a heavy, low-profit commodity must have kept companies small and local. I have other bottles from breweries in Blue Point and Bayport, towns only a few miles apart.

[Jim Ledger]

These are some later machine-made bottles. A couple from Wells and Zerweck brewery in Brooklyn, about an hour by train, C. W. Hawkins in Bayport, local, Yetter and Moore of Riverhead and Center Moriches, also local.

Before transportation and distribution systems developed, and advertising was limited to local markets, there were no national brands. Everything was made and distributed locally in small operations.



Two old mineral water bottles. You can clearly see the parting line from the two part mold and the crude attachment of the necks along with bubble flaws in the glass.

[Jim Ledger]

The object in the picture is a rake of some sort that I dug up in Tiana Bay. You see them in antique shops, but this one is special.

Anyone who has any definite idea of how this rake was worked, feel free to comment.

Modern clam rakes are recent inventions compared to tongs. Before gas welding, tong heads could have been forge welded by blacksmiths, and the handles were never a problem. Todays rakes probably date back to the WW2 era, because the handles are aluminum tubes, adjustable for length, that slide inside one another. The length of a rakes handle is critical for a given depth of water because it presents the teeth at the correct angle to the bottom...too little angle, the rake buries, too much and it skips out.

So here's a rake that predates our technology. The tine must have somehow attached firmly to a wooden handle. Given the angle of the teeth to the tine, any attempt to rake with it in the familiar fashion would fail, as it would not dig in.

This is my theory...it was used with a small working sail to provide pull. It would work best in a soft mud bottom. A line attached the rake to the bow of the boat, the pole rose almost vertically, moving the pole fore and aft would adjust the angle of the teeth, rocking the pole side to side would keep it moving through the bottom.

The construction is interesting. It's as if it was made of a single piece of metal. If it was forge welded it was a damn good job. The teeth are springy, and taper along their length. Towards the pointy end the teeth change cross section from round to rectangular.

[Breakaway]

I found a similar, but smaller rake about 25v years ago while duck hunting in Shinnecock. Wind was hard out of the NW, full moon, lowest tide I'd ever seen. I tripped over it walking out on the mud. Its "basket" is shorter than yours, but the other construction details are similar.

My buddy, Bill Bennett, now 80, and a lifetime baymen ( he still runs pots and a gill net) told me it was one of the "original scratch rakes." Used while wading/treading.

Kevin

Edited: The handle is 11 feet long and nicely tapered--though badly weathered etc as you might expect.

[Paul Girouard]

I found a similar, but smaller rake about 25v years ago while duck hunting in Shinnecock. Wind was hard out of the NW, full moon, lowest tide I'd ever seen. I tripped over it walking out on the mud. Its "basket" is shorter than yours, but the other construction details are similar.

My buddy, Bill Bennett, now 80, and a lifetime baymen ( he still runs pots and a gill net) told me it was one of the "original scratch rakes." Used while wading/treading.

Kevin

We used similar rakes to Kevin's while wading in RI back in the 70's , generally they had long teeth and a built in basket above the teeth , you'd rake the clam , it felt like scratching rocks , then work the rake under the clam, the clam would come up the teeth and roll into the basket . The basket was similar to 3/8" hardware cloth IIRC. I was thinking Jim's rake might be a waders rake but man that would have been a load to drag around while you waded , possible maybe with a wood handle to help float it around. We'd use a tire inner tube to float a wooden bushel basket tied to the waist to put the clams into , and you could have used the basket to float the rake out as you waded out around chest deep to start raking.

I think the guys out in boats where called " Bull raker's" / or that type of clamming was called "bullraking" at least in RI at that time. Narragansett Bay , Sand Point , that area.

[Jim Ledger]

Paul, that's what we call a scratch rake. You see a lot at yard sales.

Out East I used to see a lot of guys raking in the water with the rake attached to a belt, so they could lean back and give it some pull. Raking off a boat used the power of the wind to pull the rake. The raker constantly shook the handle to break up the bottom to allow the rake to advance.

The thing with rakes, and tongs as well, is that there are several styles, and a bewildering array of tooth lengths, spacing, angle, and number. The reason for this, of course, is that there are no two identical diggers, and a large amount of variable conditions in which to catch the clams.

That said, that rake I dug up is three feet wide...that's huge, nobody could effectively pull that, hence the ides that it was used with some kind of power behind it, sail or motor.

[Paul Girouard]

I'm sure you're right Jim!
Guessing that as people raked a new design would come to a guys head and he'd go home and make "the best rake ever" , as the two older ones have no real basket , it would be easy to have a loaded rake drop off clams as the rake was lifted into the boat.

I'd guess that would make a guy go into "design mode" as he watching 20 clams that almost got into the boat fall back to the bottom !!

[Breakaway]

My buddy Timmy's using a big-ass wide bullrake working Staten Island. 50-feet of water, a line tied to the business end. He hires a deckhand for that work mostly for pulling up the basket.

Yeah, you drift the boat with a rake; way easier. Sometimes rig a tarp for a sail.

Kevin

[wiley van pelt]

i've always heard them called shinnecock rakes, when i father started clamming full time in '57 there was one guy in babylon that used one of them over in the state channel, had a wooden handle, with ring and wedge to put together,

i'm sure they aren't any good in hard bottom.




cats claw rake, they still work ok, better than those little basket rakes you get, but damn sure not as good as the butter knife rakes they use down here.

[wiley van pelt]

1932 sayville

[Paul Pless]

What are y'all's favourite ways to eat clams?

and is there ever a 'by-catch'? mussels? oysters?

[Jim Ledger]

I used to catch the occasional wild oyster.

It was like eating Passenger Pigeon.

[Paul Girouard]

What was the main catch , quahog's? That's what we raked. We dug and sifted the mud for steamer clams . Same basket , used a shovel or pitch fork , and a different basket or floating box with wire mesh on the bottom to clean the mud from the steamers.

I always thought the bull-rakers where raking "hogs" at least in the RI area. But then I was young and never did see those boats off loading their catch that I remember.

[Paul Girouard]

I used to catch the occasional wild oyster.

It was like eating Passenger Pigeon.

So it's sort of like a cross between spotted owl , eagle and seagull eh! Now that's eatin buddy!!

[wiley van pelt]

we catch a lot of oysters down here, when it's open, most guys go oystering, and have clam bycatch. no mussels down here.

[Paul Girouard]

we catch a lot of oysters down here, when it's open, most guys go oystering, and have clam bycatch. no mussels down here.

What was the catch back in 1972 on Long Island?

I assume your talking about Florida with your "down here" comment above? Didn't you mention you moved there earlier in this thread?

[wiley van pelt]

What was the catch back in 1972 on Long Island?

I assume your talking about Florida with your "down here" comment above? Didn't you mention you moved there earlier in this thread?

wasn't born in 72, but they were clamming, down here is nc

[Breakaway]

Mussels form pretty thick beds, and I am sure there are clams under em, but they'd be tough to get at until you ripped up the mussels. Recreationally, mussels can be simply picked up in heaps off a mudflat at low tide, or grabbed off bridge abutments and when they are exposed on a dropping tide.

You guys haven't asked about scallops----I'll leave that to the pros posting to this thread.

Kevin

[Rich Scheffer]

Always loved this shot. A good friend timed this one just right. we just pulled the anchor and my helper/future brother and law was finishing up as we steamed home.We all named this shot "Miller Time" Rich

[Rich Scheffer]

Modern day clamming! Last summer I went up north for a visit. Spent a day clamming with my friend Greg in raritan bay. These are the thickest natural clams I have ever seen. Greg worked for 3 hr. 15 min. I spelled him for a couple grabs, we had 7- 100 to 110 lb tubs of clams. Every grab was a bushel plus. This amounts to at least 10 bushels. Not bad for a 65 and 68 year old. Imagine what we could have caught 30 years ago? These clams are all run thru a depuration plant, and you are allotted a set amount of tubs you can fill each day.I have clammed with greg a few tmes over the last ten years and the clams never seem to thin out. Gregs boat is a Loughlin, I think they were built out of the same molds as the Jorgensens. Greg has a friend who is looking for a similar boat to his.Wiley give me a PM, I will give you his contact info. Rich

[Paul Girouard]

I'd call those quahogs and / or the smaller ones Little necks. Maybe that's a Rhode Island thing?

That rake only not so wide was what we raked with, maybe 8 to 10" across , with the wire basket built in.

[Jim Ledger]

Quahog is the New England name for a hard clam. I can remember lots of little raking sharpies in East Greenwich Cove when I was a kid living there. They used to tie them to a kind of clothesline and pulley so they could pull them in from shore.

Little necks refer to the size, seed being the smallest, necks, top necks, cherries and chowders. No chowders in that haul, though.

[wiley van pelt]

i dug up there in nj just a little bit in 2000 i believe, real good clamming, too many politics to enjoy the day.

[Breakaway]

Yeah those are mostly necks and cherries, though there seems to be a few chowders in some of those totes.

Kevin

[wiley van pelt]

i hate dumping those suitcase rakes

[Rich Scheffer]

Working the Jersey side is like having a job. You go to the clam plant in the morning, stand in line, then when its your turn you punch a time card. The clam plant guy then tells you how many totes you can fill that day.You tag your totes and go to your boat. Sometimes during the morning they will let you fill a few extra totes if some other diggers didnt show up. When you are done, they lift your full totes up on to the dock with a power boom. You go to the plant and punch out your time card. Not the free and easy/independent lifestyle we knew back in the day. Rich

[wiley van pelt]

and then some guys float totes over to other guys, and if you aren't in the click they let you make $100, and you have to pay the guys on the dock $2 per tote to unload the. pffffffbt

[Rich Scheffer]

Wiley, any pictures of George Klines "Beauregard G Calhoun" I loved that big wide old girl. I bet it was a dream to work off. Rich

[Jim Ledger]

Wuz gonna ask the same thing.

Two summers ago we were driving the catboat up whatever the name of the creek is in Babylon. Three or four guys were sitting on a tongboat tied to the dock, so I asked them if they ever heard of the ol' Beauregard. It was suddenly smiles all around, somebody kicked a chair my way while another pressed a cold one in my hand. Sadly, she's long gone, but that boat must have been fifteen feet wide if she was an inch.

[Rich Scheffer]

The "Beauregard" was originally the " mosquito boat", sat in Patchogue river and was used by either suffolk county or Brookhaven town guys to spray for mosquitos.If it ever was advertised for sale the line should have said "low hours, sleeps six". When I was a kid she was about two planks higher and had a big deckhouse just like Mickeys Traveler. George Wayne from South Bay Boat Works aquired it and cut her down, decked her over and built a cute cabin/wheel house on her. She was all gray and had a straight 8 Chrysler flathead inboard for power. These engines were only about 135 horsepower but had gobs of torque and she got up and planed off at about 16 or 17 mph. Beauregard was yellow heart pine over sawn oak frames. The pine was hard as a rock. George told me you couldnt drive a nail into her, even drilling took a major effort. George Kline decorated her up with some creative color and of course her unforgetable name"Beauregard G Calhoun" Rich.

[wiley van pelt]

I had some more pictures to post but my computer died hopefully I will be able to fix it soon

[Rich Scheffer]

Bet you never saw any clamdigger humor. This comes from a book centered around Rhode Island culture. I cant remember the authors name, but he is the Don Martin of RI. Rich

[16garveybayshore]

Hey Guys! Just joined the site and have had a great time reading this thread. I am from bay shore, and see alot of these boat down in babylon where I do landscaping. I currently have a 1965 16 ft garvey skiff thats got a fresh transom and a fresh refastening with a 40hp yamaha tiller. Boat is great but I am looking to move up. I would be interetsed to know if anyone knows any boats for sale. Seriously looking for a pilot/doghouse boat, either deck over or not. Very interested and a project does not scare me. Hard to find these boats and I look everyday. Please keep the thread going. My father was a clammer in the late 60's early 70's when he was in and just out of high school. and he loved it, used the same style boat I have with a 33hp evinrude. Sold the boat when he had my older sister, dumbest thing he ever did he said ahah. Good luck everyone and thanks for sharing these stories. Thanks for any leads that may come up. Beautiful boats!!

[Rich Scheffer]

Here is an old Bayshore shot. This was a postcard, it must have been from the fifties, judging by the registration numbers on the tong boat. This is either the Doxsee boat on Shore drive 61' photo or Dan Sieberts uncle Mike's boat. Anyone know when New York went from 10---- reg numbers to Ny---- Numbers? Rich.

[Rich Scheffer]

The object in the picture is a rake of some sort that I dug up in Tiana Bay. You see them in antique shops, but this one is special.

Anyone who has any definite idea of how this rake was worked, feel free to comment.

Modern clam rakes are recent inventions compared to tongs. Before gas welding, tong heads could have been forge welded by blacksmiths, and the handles were never a problem. Todays rakes probably date back to the WW2 era, because the handles are aluminum tubes, adjustable for length, that slide inside one another. The length of a rakes handle is critical for a given depth of water because it presents the teeth at the correct angle to the bottom...too little angle, the rake buries, too much and it skips out.

So here's a rake that predates our technology. The tine must have somehow attached firmly to a wooden handle. Given the angle of the teeth to the tine, any attempt to rake with it in the familiar fashion would fail, as it would not dig in.

This is my theory...it was used with a small working sail to provide pull. It would work best in a soft mud bottom. A line attached the rake to the bow of the boat, the pole rose almost vertically, moving the pole fore and aft would adjust the angle of the teeth, rocking the pole side to side would keep it moving through the bottom.

The construction is interesting. It's as if it was made of a single piece of metal. If it was forge welded it was a damn good job. The teeth are springy, and taper along their length. Towards the pointy end the teeth change cross section from round to rectangular.

Jim, no tellin' how old that Shinnecock rake is. This old print is from Harpers magazine 1869. Rich

[diannetny]

i checked with babylons foremost authority on tong boats, this was John Heidt's (young john)

This is Tommy Wills's boat. It used to John Heidt's.

[Rich Scheffer]

Lost an old friend. My buddy Greg King passed away saturday morning 12-8-2012. Greg was one of the best clammers I ever saw. Managed to stay with clamming right down to the end. Greg truly had a passion for his work. I would talk to Greg almost every week, he would dial me up when he had a full rake, hold his cell phone down near the rail, and shake the mud out of the rake. Greg would then bring the phone up to his mouth, and say,"did you hear that"? Just glad I had the chance to work with him that last time,[The pictures I posted]. The group picture is a gang of old Long Island clammers. We had a little gathering down here at my boat shop in 06.' From left to right are Dick Hummel, Greg King, me, Thor Anderson, Frank Jehle, Stan Buys, Teddy Schmidt. Dick, Greg, and Stan are no longer with us. Great guys all, lot of Great South Bay History lost here. I miss them terribly. Rich

[Tracey]

Oh, I am sad to hear this. Greg King was one of the legends to come out of my childhood.

[wiley van pelt]

Sorry to hear this, it's a story that keeps repeating lately, all the "old timers" are passing on, and with them is a whole way of life, in the not so distant future all that will be left are these pics and some hand-me-down tales of great south bay clams. my thoughts are with his friends and family.

[Rich Scheffer]

Tracey, did I know your dad? Wiley, I recently sent my 1913 Oyster tonger pictures to a gentleman in West Sayville who is a member of the local historical soceity. Seems that they are working on a book about the bay and local history. Hope to see a copy sometime soon. Gregs wife Rosemary always said that Greg and I should record all the old clamming stories we would tell whenever we got together, and put them in a book. I am sure they would have been amusing, if not a bit colorful. I guess I will have to do it alone! Rich

[Dockatbay2004]

I'm new to this site, I can't believe I never came across it before. Lots of names mentioned that I remember from the 70's. and 80's. As I waited to get my clearance I must have reread these posts 10 times and each one allowed a few more synapses and nuerons to be jarred loose. I'd like to go back to a few posts to maybe shed some light and add some more memories to the heap. First I'd like to send my condolenses to Rich at the loss of his friend Greg King. I remember him being a legend back in the 80's, I never met him but the stories out of Rhode island were finastkind. I'm sorry for your loss Rich.
Pete

[Rich Scheffer]

Pete, thanks for the sympathy. Greg was quite a rugged individualist in his lifestyle and approach to his livelyhood. Greg and his family moved to Rhode Island right after we moved to florida. While many of the guys in the late 70's and early 80's have a lot of good clamming memories, we were ruined by the bonanza we experienced in the early 60's, and saw the handwriting on the wall, as to the future of the bay. Greg was always on the cutting edge,, technically, of clamming. He was always thinking of new and better technology, equipment wise. Greg told me, on his first day in Rhode Island he caught 102 bushels, had to run to shore three times to unload his boat. He went to a close by phone booth to call Rosemary so she could drive down and watch over his truck and clams. About two hours into the first morning the locals were starting to grumble, he was doubling and tripling all the top diggers. While some of the locals were still using wooden handles, Greg finished up in Rhode Island using 120 feet of carbon fiber and kevlar composite handles to work waters always thought to be too deep to work. Rich

[Dockatbay2004]

Rich,
Where was that picture in front of the hull taken and when? I used to work around Dick Hummel, Red Nichols, Billy Kokel in Port Jeff for many years in the 80's and 90's. No bonanza, just steady work. I heard Dick had passed away, I remember when he had his heart attack in the boat up here. Doctors said he was completely blocked but the smaller vessels were so developed from the type of work he did, that it kept him alive. Still came out after that, still had a stogie in his mouth, still would beat me.
Pete

[Rich Scheffer]

Pete that picture was taken in my boat shop in Jupiter Fl. 06. The following year we had pretty much the same gang, with Ricky Madden and his son Richard and Thor Anderson's brother Jay in addition. Lots of good stories! I probably mentioned earlier that the raking garvey running in to West Sayville in the video at the beginning of this thread was one of mine that I built. In my second life I became a boat builder. Check out www.tributeboats.com. Greg worked a lot of winters for me down in warm sunny Florida. The guys in Jersey were all mad at him, they didnt believe that he was working as a boat builder. They all thought he had a secret clam spot in florida, and were all pizzed, that he wouldn't share the clams with them! Rich

[lifishinvt]

Rich i am sorry to hear that Greg King has past.i had the pleasure to clam with him in Staten Island for a couple of seasons ,i think 96 and 97. If you see Rick Madden tell him John""Fish"' from Vt.says hello. i also had the pleasure of clamming with Rick for several years in Fla.Jim,i think i might know you from Davis Park,i was one of the dockmasters there in the early 70'sin my high school days.if i remember you docked near Larry Densing.not sure if Tommy Moran is the same Tommy i know from Fla.had a tong boat named snow goose,use to buy clams.the mention of many of the names in this thread sure brings back memories

[Dockatbay2004]

Rich, Beautiful Boats quite a bit different than the workhorses in the video. I read your site did you work on Sam Gershowitz's Marlena? I see her all summer when I camp at Shagwong Point. Beautiful boat my wife loves that hue of yellow and when I get another boat I'll try to match it. No midnight black, or foggy morning gray for me.

I also remember Rick Madden from the Target Rock set in the 70's and the Bayville set. I think he had one of Dave Ferrer's Stormaster sharpies in black. I cut my teeth up there in the deep water and then tried to learn how to dig the grass with the Aviano crew. I did better in the shells with a spike rake in those days. I still see John Donohue once in a while when he isn't baby sitting his grandchildren. Times have changed from his speedo days raking the ferry channel outside of Davis.
Thanks for this thread guys.
Pete

[holzbt]

A few of Lucky Strike under construction in VA.

[holzbt]

And a skiff being built alongside.

[holzbt]

A few more scanned from Russell's collection.